


The Whole Story

by redfive86



Category: Greek (US TV 2007)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28235586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redfive86/pseuds/redfive86
Summary: It happens to us all: we grow up, we get busy with new lives, we lose track of the small (and sometimes big) details of the lives of the people we were close to. How do you handle when you crash back into those details?
Relationships: Rusty Cartwright/Ashleigh Howard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	The Whole Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cherylbombshells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherylbombshells/gifts).



“They’re here! Oh, Russel, they’re here!”

Her mother’s shouting and slam of the front door pulled Casey out of her deep focus on the policy documents on her laptop. She picked up her mug of coffee, sitting back against the wood of the banquette and looking over the top of the half-curtain at the flurry of activity on the front lawn. She smiled lightly, sipping at the warm drink, and watched her mother’s excitement play out in a comedy of errors on the sidewalk- purses trapped awkwardly in the middle of hugs, suitcases dropped between too many people trying to unload them, a jacket caught in a car door shut too quickly. Casey shut her laptop as the gaggle reached the porch and moved the device to the bench beside her, out of reach of the liquid in the mug.

Karen held her arms out in front of her, surveying the small foyer as if it were a large stadium. “Finally, all my children are home for Thanksgiving. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten what the whole family looks like!”

Rusty’s eyes flicked between his mother and Casey. “There are lots of holidays, Mom, and sometimes you come to Califor-”

Casey cut him off. “Why don’t we get you guys settled in?” She smiled, but her lips were tight.

“Of course! You two just came such a long way. Upstairs, upstairs. You’ll be in the same room as usual, Ashleigh. I hope you don’t mind sharing with Casey. You know the drill, only married couples share beds in this house!”Her last words came out with a chuckle. Karen turned to look at her daughter. “Casey, why don’t you show Ashleigh upstairs so she can get settled in?”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Cartwright, I know where I’m going.” Ashleigh picked up her suitcase and started up the stairs. “I just hope Casey didn’t take the good bed first!”

Casey reached into the breakfast nook to grab her laptop off the bench. “I’ll just move my suitcase out of the way.” She dodged around her mother and sped up the stairs behind the other two. She found Rusty and Ashleigh at the top of the stairs, trying hard to stifle their laughter.

“Some things never change, hey Case?” Rusty whispered, holding his arms out for a hug. “It’s so good to see you...Congresswoman!"

"It's Congresswoman-elect, let's not get too hasty."

"You're right, some things really never change." Ashleigh gave Casey a quick side hug. "Except for me, I definitely need to change out of these plane clothes and get some coffee."

“I can take care of that.” Casey hefted her laptop in front of her. “Just let me drop this off and I’ll have some waiting for you when you’re ready.”  
Rusty was the first to emerge for coffee. He and Casey setted on the bench in the breakfast nook, careful to choose a spot which was out of their mother’s line of sight. Rusty chattered eagerly about the uses for the new wire his startup had developed.

“So tell me, Congresswoman-elect, what else is new with you?”

“You don’t have to use my title all the time, you know.”

“I know. But it agrees with you. It really synthesizes the air of authority that you’ve always had.”

Casey chuckled. “California agrees with you! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with this much of a tan. You look so polished and put together, I can hardly believe you’re still my little brother.”

“The tan is from walking to work. Traffic in the Bay Area terrifies me. And all of this-” Rusty gestured down his body with his hand. “- is all Ashleigh. Kind of. She convinced me that I make enough money to have a stylist. She was right, what I always needed was someone else to make decisions for me.”

“From New York?” Casey raised her eyebrow.

“It’s only temporary. They made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Those kinds of marketing contracts don’t come around that often. Next spring she’ll be done and then we can be in the same time zone again.”

“And am I looking forward to being in a place where it doesn’t snow anymore! It’s only November and I am so over the cold already.” Ashleigh sat down next to Rusty while she spoke, her elbow propped up on the back of the bench. She ran her fingers lightly through Rusty’s hair before planting a light kiss near his ear. “I’m supposed to tell you two that the food is here, but I need a few minutes before I can handle any more of your mom’s questions about Ryan Reynolds.”

The three sat in the small room until Karen came looking for them, sharing old stories and trading gossip about their friends from college.

After they’d finished eating, Rusty ran upstairs and returned with a large box. From underneath a large layer of ice packs, he produced an elaborate cheesecake which read Congratulations, Congresswoman!

“I know it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, but tonight we wanted to celebrate the newest elected official in the family. Congratulations, Casey, we’re all so proud of you.”

“That’s such a thoughtful gesture, Rusty! Yes, we’re very proud of you, Casey. Getting elected to public office is quite the accomplishment.” Karen collected a set of plates and cutlery from the kitchen and started to cut the cake for everyone.

“Of course,” she continued, “it’s only the state house but really who would want the attention from a national office? I’d hate to be under that kind of public scrutiny!”

“Well I think it’s a great start. Casey’s going to make an amazing legislator. I mean, if she could help me through my first few years of college, she can do anything!” Rusty winked at Casey from across the table. “Speaking of doing anything, do you know what they’re doing to the house next door, Mom?”

Casey mouthed a small ‘thank you’ to Rusty while she passed him a slice of cheesecake.

The family lingered over a game of cards after dessert, and later that evening Casey found herself waiting for Ashleigh to join her so that she could turn off the lights and go to sleep. She looked up from her book when the other woman entered the room. “I was starting to worry that my parents scared you off!”

Ashleigh giggled. “They haven’t scared me off yet! I just wanted to spend some time with Rusty before bed. It’s so nice to be in the same place with him.” She paused for a moment. “And with you! This is just like old times! It’s nice to be sharing space with you again, only this time without all the ZBZ drama,” Ashliegh said. She started pulling a few pieces of clothing out of her suitcase.

“It must be really hard, being so far away from each other.”

“It’s the worst. If I’d known it was going to be this hard, I wouldn’t have taken the job. But Rusty probably would have moved heaven and earth to make sure I didn’t go through with that decision.”

“Rusty mentioned earlier that you’re making a lot of decisions for him, you guys must be really serious.”

“We’ve been together for six years and we’re living on different coasts, I’d hope we’re pretty serious.”

“I’m just so surprised that you two are still together. So many college romances fall apart after a few years.”

“Sure, but not all of them. Sometimes you just meet the right person for you.”

“Look, I know what kind of guys you fall for, Ashleigh, and I don’t like what that says about my brother.”

“Are you kidding me? That was like ten years ago. I’ve changed.”

“Rusty is too talented and driven to be pulled off track by whatever mess you’ve-”

“Oh my god, Casey. We got married!” Ashelight tossed her hands in the air in front of her as she spoke, Her bangles clinked loudly in the silence of the room.

Casey shook her head a few times and blinked, her mouth falling open slightly. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Rusty really didn’t want to steal your thunder. He knows how important your election is to you and we didn’t want to overshadow your news.”

“When did you get married?”

“Right before I moved to New York. Rusty wanted to buy an apartment for me to stay, but since my credit’s still kind of terrible, we figured it would be easier to just get married.”

"You got married to buy an apartment?

"It wasn't my idea, it was his. He wants to use it as an investment property after I'm- you know what? It doesn't matter why we did anything. It's our life together, and it's none of your business."

Ashleigh started to shove things back in her suitcase haphazardly, the newly piled items in sharp contrast to the remainder of the immaculately packed suitcase.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know why I’d stay in here when I could be spending the night with my husband, who I rarely see in person. Goodnight, Casey.” Ashleigh sped out of the room, leaving Casey in shock on the other twin bed.

A few minutes later Casey heard a quiet knock at the door. 

“Heya, Case, it’s me.” Rusty paused. “Uh, Rusty. Can we talk?” 

Rusty entered the room and sat nervously on the edge of the other twin bed rubbing his hand on his knees. "I guess you've heard the big news." 

"Yeah, from your  _ wife _ . I can't believe you didn't tell me. That's huge news!"

"It's not just you. We didn't tell anybody. We just kind of skipped forward a step." 

"I would say you skipped several steps." 

"Not really. I'd already bought a ring, we just only stayed engaged for a week." 

"A week? That's not like you. You plan everything to the last inch. You even knew how long it would take us to play two rounds of cards tonight!" 

"It was the most logical solution, Casey. We knew we were going to get married eventually but it was more helpful to have the economic benefits now, when they could save us a bunch of money." 

Casey's eyes narrowed. "Save you money?" 

"Absolutely. Ashleigh is still working on fixing her credit, but if we bought the apartment in New York together as a married couple, she could fly under mine. It's the best we could have hoped for. We just had a short engagement. It was all my idea, I can show you the spreadsheets if you-" Rusty reached for his phone, but Casey put out her hand to stop him. 

"It's fine," Casey said, shaking her head a little. I don't need to see your spreadsheets. Wait, didn't she move to New York last year?" 

"Right after Thanksgiving." 

"You've been married for a  _ year _ ?" 

"Not quite," Rusty said. He moved his fingers in the air in front of him. "Three hundred and forty-seven days." 

"I shouldn't be surprised that you know that."

"You also shouldn't be surprised that you didn't know. You've been so busy this year, and Ash wanted to avoid throwing you off your game. You have so many more important things to worry about now, things that affect real people and can cause real change. What does it matter what a couple of needs are up to?"

"You two are important to me," Casey muttered.

"But we're far from the most important people you have to think about. It happens, Case. Sometimes people grow apart. We're not as tight as we were in college. Our lives have different paths now." Rusty laughed. "Plus, it’s not like she was going to tell you any of the details about the new guy she was dating. Even  _ I _ think that would be super weird.” 

"Oh, well, in that case-" Casey started, before lapsing into giggles against the pillow. "I’m sorry, Rusty. I guess I never had to really figure out how to handle you two dating in person, and I guess ‘all my worries for you just exploded out all over Ash. I feel terrible!" 

"I think I might just have a plan for that." Rusty leaned forward with a smirk. "No spreadsheets, either. But a big dose of brothe- well, I guess for you guys it would be sisterhood. Ashleigh mentioned something about some ZBZ ring ritual?" 

Casey's eyes flicked up in surprise. "Do you think that would work?" she asked. 

"It's definitely worth a try." 

Casey tapped her fingernails against her cheek, her eyes staring off to the side. "I'm going to need some help. And a distraction. Are you in, pledge Spitter?" 

"I am up to the task!" Rusty hopped to attention and saluted. 

Casey reached to the bookshelf near the bed and pulled out a copy of the ZBZ regulations. "Okay, here's what we're going to need…"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide, cherylbombshells! It's been too long since I spent some time with the Cartwrights and I'm so happy I had thee opportunity to do that for a while. Thanks for your awesome prompt!


End file.
